Cockburn, Plummer lead Illinois past Notre Dame 82-72
Kofi Cockburn flushes powerful jam for Illinois
Kofi Cockburn crashes the offensive glass and slams home a vicious dunk to extend Illinois' lead over Notre Dame.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- — Kofi Cockburn scored 28 points, Alfonso Plummer added 21 and Illinois defeated Notre Dame 82-72 on Monday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Cockburn, a preseason All-American and player of the year candidate, leads the nation in scoring at 26.6 points per game. He did not take a shot in the first 12 minutes but finished the first half with 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting. For the game, he was 11 of 16 from the field and made 6 of 9 free throws.
Cockburn scored eight points early in the second half and his dunk with 14:50 remaining gave the Illini a 56-43 lead. Jacob Grandison's 3-pointer extended the lead to 59-43.
At that point, the pace slowed down for Illinois and Notre Dame drew within 67-62 when Cormac Ryan hit a 3-pointer with just under six minutes to go.
Illinois (4-2) pushed the lead to 71-63 at the final official timeout then made 11 of 12 free throws in the final three minutes, including 8 for 8 by Plummer.
Freshman Blake Wesley led Notre Dame with a season-high 24 points off the bench. Dane Goodwin had 15 points and Nate Leszewski scored 13 for the Fighting Irish (3-3).
The matchup paired two of the top 15 schools in all-time victories. With 1,840 wins, Illinois is 15th on the list and Notre Dame is eighth with 1,918 wins.
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Game Information
- Referees:
- Larry Scirotto
- D.J. Carstensen
- Keith Kimble
2024-25 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Boston College | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
California | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Clemson | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Duke | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Florida State | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Louisville | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Miami | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
NC State | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
North Carolina | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Pittsburgh | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
SMU | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Stanford | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Syracuse | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Virginia Tech | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Wake Forest | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Georgia Tech | 0-0 | - | 0-0 |
Notre Dame | 0-0 | - | 0-0 |
Virginia | 0-0 | - | 0-0 |
2024-25 Big Ten Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Illinois | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Iowa | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Maryland | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Michigan | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Michigan State | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Nebraska | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Northwestern | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Ohio State | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Oregon | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Penn State | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Purdue | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
UCLA | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
USC | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Wisconsin | 0-0 | - | 1-0 |
Indiana | 0-0 | - | 0-0 |
Minnesota | 0-0 | - | 0-0 |
Rutgers | 0-0 | - | 0-0 |
Washington | 0-0 | - | 0-0 |